Morris Minor Owners Club

I have been looking at a few photos of engine compartments and all seem to have an engine steady bar. Should my 1970 saloon have this bar?

Simple answer: Yes.

The bar should mount to a bracket on the bulkhead just below the battery case. It is not unknown for the bracket to break off. There are various repair options available for either bolting or welding.

Absolutely! Without it - judder and shake must surely be the norm ?

The 1970 car should have the engine steady as mentioned. Here's two photos of the "Grumpy" replacement kit from ESM which bolts on. There are two unused threaded holes beside the damper. The kit comes with a threaded rod which can act as a rasp. I used a stainless steel tube over it and a cable tie at the end as an anti-rattle. Quite a good kit.
Regards
Declan[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

Thanks. Don't know why mine is missing. Engine doesn't seem to be shaking etc without it. I'll fit one to be on safe side. Presumably I can simply undo the head bolt to insert the bracket on the engine side.

Should be fine, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has lovingly torqued the head down than had that DOH! moment when you realise the steady bar wasn't in place.

Should be a longer stud there - to allow the bracket to fit on top of the head nut - and then secured with another nut. It's always a risk to loosen the head nut - but if done dead cold it should be ok.

I've ordered a new steady bar but still need to get a bracket to connect it to the cylinder head. The head bolt is slightly longer where the bracket fits but doesn't seem long enough to fit a bracket then another nut.

Are the bars fitted under the head nut in most cases or as described on last post?

Thanks for any info.

I would never put it under the head nut - but probably that's where it was from the factory. Only needs a normal 'thin' nut on top.

My car does not have one - it was not fitted as standard to the 803 until car number 295948 in Nov 54. I've never noticed any shudder from the engine. But then it is only an 803....

Thanks. Don't know why mine is missing. Engine doesn't seem to be shaking etc without it.

You are most likely to find shudder when doing a heavy take up in reverse - the amount of shudder depends on the condition of engine mounts (and gearbox mounts). The steady bar is in a much better position to resist the drivetrain torque than the mounts.
It was standard fit when the Minor 1000 came into production, as the 948 was a lot more powerful than the SII engine and showed this problem much more prominently.

Mine decided to snap off recently, and the difference on a 1098 engine is quite noticeable, particularly if the idle isn't great. This must be quite a common problem as it seems there are a number of kits available, but I'm going to try welding it back on instead. In the meantime I hope it's not doing any damage driving the car without it

Chris,
I would use the "Grumpy" kit as it will be no fun welding in that area and the kit seem a lot stronger than the original. It's probably just as easy to make it yourself.
Regards
Declan

That is tempting actually seeing as I have some 4mm steel lying about. Might make a nice little project!

Chris,
For info, the vertical part which bolts to the cross member is 8.5mm thick and the piece that is welded on at an angle is 6mm on the "Grumpy " kit-see first photo above on my earlier post.
Regards
Declan

I've got the kit and bracket for the head but there is no way that a nut will fit on top of the bracket in addition to leaving the head bolt in situ as mentioned above. Is the answer to grind down the bracket or put in under the headbolt? Even if I did the latter, there wont be much thread left.

I've never seen an extra nut holding the bracket down.
I'd put it under the nut that's there.

It isn't in an area that head gaskets tend to go, so I'd whip the nut off and put the bracket underneath it, rather than weaken the bracket by grinding it.

MarkyB wrote:I've never seen an extra nut holding the bracket down.
I'd put it under the nut that's there.

It isn't in an area that head gaskets tend to go, so I'd whip the nut off and put the bracket underneath it, rather than weaken the bracket by grinding it.

That's what I did. ESM sell long studs but you would have to remove the stud in question to see if the ESM one it is really long enough.
http://morrisminorspares.co.uk/shop/pro ... 781b825be4
Regards

Not too clear but I placed the bars from the shell to the 2 bolts on the gearbox-to-backplate area and made brackets up. This puts the shear loads through the gearbox bolts instead of the head bolts. The white car needed some extra ali brackets to spread the loads out through the top of the footwell (Lenham Sprite) and it used simple rubber doughnuts and some threaded metric rod used in house repair.
I hope this helps.

Rob,
That looks very impressive-lovely job!
Regards
Declan